Despite California’s double-digit unemployment rate, career opportunities for students at Van Nuys Airport’s Aircraft Mechanic School are flying high. Enrolled at the only airframe and power plant mechanics training program of its kind in California, graduates who pass the required FAA certification exam are virtually guaranteed jobs, school officials say.
“The Aircraft Mechanic School is probably the best-kept secret at Van Nuys Airport,” said Curt Castagna, president of the Van Nuys Airport Association (VNAA), a non-profit tenant organization that recently established a student scholarship program. “The school provides hands-on training to prepare men and women for high-skilled, high-paying jobs working for major and regional airlines, corporate flight departments, and aerospace products and parts manufacturing companies, among other aviation facilities.”
Founded in 1973 and operated by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s North Valley Occupational Center, the Aircraft Mechanic School is ranked among the top in the country and one of the only programs of its kind open to high school students. Offering a combination of classroom lecture in 45 individual subject areas and shop-oriented projects, its facilities include a high-bay hangar in which students work on actual propeller aircraft, jets and helicopters.
Approximately 150-200 students are enrolled each year in the two-year program, which is free to high school students and costs about $500 total for older students, including summer session. Both day and night classes are available.
Statistics indicate a persistent demand for both experienced and entry-level certified aircraft mechanics in the aircraft maintenance industry today. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment for aircraft mechanics and avionics equipment technicians is expected to increase by 7% between 2008 and 2018.
In addition, most job openings for aircraft mechanics will stem from the need to replace the many mechanics expected to retire over the next decade. Also contributing to favorable future job opportunities is the long-term trend toward fewer students entering technical schools to learn skilled maintenance and repair trades. If this trend continues, the supply of trained aviation mechanics may not keep up with the needs of the air transportation industry, school officials say.
There are currently an estimated 121,500 aircraft mechanics and service technicians in the U.S., with a projected employment of 129,300 over the next seven years. Wages can range from $18 to $50 per hour, or higher.
“As part of our mission to save airport jobs and businesses, as well as to prepare the future aviation workforce, the Van Nuys Airport Association is pleased to award two $500 scholarships to deserving students,” Castagna said. “Aircraft maintenance is one of the most important jobs in the aviation industry, affecting the safety of millions of passengers per year. This is a good news story in the midst of the general aviation industry’s most severe economic downturn.”
Castagna said the scholarship program was founded in October 2010 in the memory of the late Milton A. Widelitz, one of VNAA’s original founders and also the founder of Aerolease Associates, a master leasehold at Van Nuys Airport since 1977. While the company provided the initial funding, a portion of all future VNAA membership fees will benefit the scholarship program. Scholarships were awarded to Luis M. Sandoval of North Hollywood, Calif. and Anabel Mesa of Granada Hills, Calif.
For more information: NVOC.org
During the summer of 2009 I had the opportunity to work on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner as a contract tech. engineer. I had recently completed a twenty year career working at Northrop, McDonnell-Douglas, and later 12 years on the McDonnell-Douglas-Boeing C-17 aircraft. They were typically hiring people with the minimum of two-three years of past aviation experience. They were paying starting salary of $12.00/hour, Oh, I almost forgot, If you had your A&P license you would earn $13.00/hour. After talking to a few IndustRial Engineers there, it became very clear to me that Boeing was trying to take as much american labor out of this aircraft as possible. The 787 program is the new aviation assembly business model for future aircraft manufacturing. Boeing has converted three 747 aircraft to act as flying aircraft shipping containers, similar to the old “flying guppy”. Boeing has off-loaded design as well as manufacturing requirements overseas, flys the pre-stuffed assemblies into Everett, slides the assemblies off the airplane and onto a transportable carraige/trailer to final assembly. The overhead crane picks up the assembly and loads the assembly tools. The assemblers (excuse me, I meant aircraft mechanics) basically put the aircraft together like you would a ATF model. An example: the fuselage splice joints take less than a day of labor per airplane. The assembly tools were designed to to be transportable. Did someone say, Charlotte, SC ? Right you are! Oh, by the way, did I mention that SC is a right to work state. As much as I enjoyed a tremendous experience building airplanes, those days are over!!!!!. Suggestion, learn auto mechanics instead, especially on the high end cars. If you are really good, you’ll pull in a heck of alot more money. If you are at the top of your game and go independent, did someone say 6 digits? Right you are again. Happy hunting and follow your passion. IT’S OK TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY.
I will give Janice Wood the credit, she’s right. I graduated from the aviation school she speaks of, they were excellent teachers and very meticulous. They knew the things we would face as mechanics, and they allowed room in the curriculum to make us learn. You do work your butt off and learn FAA requirements, and you can become one bad-AS* mechanic, but the industry is geared to making you the scapegoat, if you don’t have mechanic’s insurance, and rely on general MMF (manufactures maintenance manuals) as required by the FAA, YOU do all the work, sign an airworthy certificate everytime the plane leaves the ground…..really? I could blackmail everyone on the plane waiting to go to Hawaii…..think about it.
I’m in agreement, I’ve worked for some of the national airlines and the pay tier system brings new (no experience) mechanics in at 10 bucks an hour or less. Until the Department of Labor classifies airline mechanics as “skilled labor” we will continue to be at the mercy of the airlines’ pay scale, unionized or not. And yes, I’m not kidding, the Dept. of Labor considers aircraft mechanics they same way they do long-haul truck mechanics and your local car fix-it shop mechanics. If I have to put my name on the line of an aircraft logbook, certifying it’s airworthiness, you damn well better pay me more than 10 bucks an hour.
I agree with Daniel. A&P’s and AI’s aren’t making $18-$50, I don’t know where those numbers are coming from. I don’t know a single mechanic making $50 an hour.
I’m considering going to A&P school as a second career, but haven’t decided to go forward with it because the pay just isn’t there. While I don’t expect to make a six figure income, I do expect to make a decent living at whatever profession I do, and right now you just can’t do that in the midwest as an A&P mechanic. They’re making 11-15 an hour here… some even less.
At some point, the industry will have to realize that if they want the best people, they will have to pay top dollar for them. Poor wages, brings in poor wage-earners.
There is a demand for more aircraft mechanics. Unfortunately the pay rate range that you mentioned in this article is vastly different from reality. This industry still wants to pay less than automotive mechanics rates for it’s A&P’s. If the actual pay rate was 18-50 or more per hour we wouldn’t have a shortage of qualified mechanics in our field.